I went to hang out with Cookie Girl the other week. The actress turned magical realist baker has become such a legend in west London that people who stumble across her Portobello market stall on a Saturday morning have been known to shout: “Oh, my God. You actually exist. I thought you were made up.”

I can see why. There’s something of the fairy tale about her: dark-haired, red-lipped and buxom, with an extravagant line in peasant-girl frocks and lace aprons. She even has a column detailing her exploits in Notting Hill’s glossy Grove magazine.

She also, of course, makes pretty delicious cookies — greedily big and charmingly misshapen, with a squidgy softness in the middle and a hint of crunch around the outside. When I popped in to see her at work, the house was filled with the smell of baking. Cookie Girl was busy shaping the dough into balls with her “cookie spanner” (an old-fashioned ice-cream scoop), then pressing big chunks of chocolate into the surface. The finished articles sat in a gingham basket, ready to seduce the creatives of Notting Hill. Thankfully for the rest of us, she has started selling them online.

Cookie Girl’s blend of deliciousness and dressing up has won her some groovy fans. Sienna Miller, Jade Jagger and Cat Stevens are all customers. Last night, she was out with the Mighty Boosh, and Russell Brand recently announced on his radio show: “I’m in love with Cookie Girl and it’s making me ill.”

Surely it can’t just be down to her cookies? “I bake with love,” she says. “That’s the secret. When you cook with resentment, it's never going to taste good.”

Baskets, from £40 for 25 cookies; cookiegirl.co.uk

Hugh and cry

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a food hero, but prices at his River Cottage store and canteen in Axminster, Devon, have apparently been met with a mixed response. Rumour has it he’s affectionately known by the locals as “very dear Hugh”.

Get saucy

I’m not quite sure how I’ve survived without it. Olives Et Al Tapenade Marocaine contains some of my favourite flavours — kalamata olives, preserved lemons, capers — blended to a wonderful citrussy, salty savouriness. I started off slathering it on toast with a blob of soft white goat’s cheese. Then, I just ate it by the spoonful. I want a jar of this permanently in my fridge.

About £4 for 160g, from delis, farm shops and olivesetal.co.uk

Take 3

Try this spicy take on ham, egg and chips from Nick Leonard at the Coach & Horses in Clerkenwell, central London.

Serves 1

600g maris piper potatoes

150g chorizo (use cooking chorizo, not the nibbling one)

1 duck egg

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Peel the potatoes and cut into chips. Steam until just soft on the outside, then put in a colander and allow to steam dry.

Pour ½cm vegetable oil into a roasting tray and place in the oven until smoking hot. Add the chips, mix to coat with the oil, then roast for 30 minutes or until golden. Drain well.

Slice the chorizo and fry over a medium heat to produce a nice even colour. Drain, keeping the oil. Fry the egg in a nonstick pan with a trace of olive oil until just done.

Mix the chorizo with the chips. Season lightly. Place in a bowl and top with the duck egg and a few twists of white pepper. Spoon a little chorizo oil over the egg.

The Coach & Horses, 26 Ray Street, EC1; 020 7278 8990

Explore Food & Drink

• Gordon Ramsay

• Heston Blumenthal

• Recipes

• Wine

• Real Food

• Anjum Anand

• Eating Out

• Video Recipes

Times Recommends

• How to season a wok
• Chicago Rib Shack hits back at its critics
• Gordon Ramsay: Indian barbecue